Oz travellers flock to Thailand for new boobs and flat stomachs for $6500

Melbourne,
Sun, 22 Apr 2012ANI

Melbourne, Apr 22 (ANI): Holidaymakers booking in for cut-price cosmetic surgery in Asia in large numbers are being greeted with centres ranging from the five-star to street stall.

A Sunday Mail investigation in Thailand found Australians using facilities spanning from plush hospitals complete with chandeliers to the rundown Bangkok Pratunam Polyclinic with its tatty couches and cockroaches.

Foreign patients can wake up with new breasts or a trim tummy the day after walking in off the street for up to a third the price of surgery at home.

Patients are flocking to the cosmetic surgery hotspot for new breasts and flat stomachs for as little as 6500 dollars.

Some hospitals visited operated like well-oiled machines with highly trained surgeons some managed by US and Australian management teams leading impressed patients to "upsize'" from a single procedure to a range of extras, including botox, dental work, eyelid lifts or liposuction.

It comes amid the first major cosmetic surgery tourism study across five countries by Australian and British researchers.

Yanhee International Hospital in Bangkok, resembled a cosmetic surgery fast food restaurant, with queues of people waiting to see a surgeon and young errand girls on roller blades whizzing down the hospital's corridors.

The Sunday Mail was consulting with a surgeon less than two hours after walking off the street, with breast implant surgery offered for as early as the same day for under 3000 dollars. There was no warning about the potential risks during the brief consultation.

Cosmetic surgery tour operator Daniela Pratico, of Medi Makeovers, said most Australians considered the short wait times a boon compared to months of waiting for cosmetic surgery at home. (ANI)